Imac 20" or Dual G5?

[gajones76]

Having trouble deciding whether to go for a 20" Imac 2 ghz, or one of the dual processor Powermacs. I will be using it for Photo Mechanic, Photoshop, and emailing/FTPing pictures every day. Will I see much difference between the two systems?

 

[mad jew]

Well, it kind of depends on which dual processor Mac you're after as to how much of a gain you'll see. IMO, the iMac represents better value at the moment. Plus, it should really be fast enough for photo work.

 

[40167]

I'd have to agree with that, get the iMac... thats unless you want dual monitors or so (which personaly I like ALOT when doing photos or video)...

I plan to get 4 of the dell 2500fpw displays (20 inch lcd) and hook it to one system... (cheapest online seems to be 350 per display) so even with 4, its cheaper than a single 30inch from apple and i get higher resolution (total) and more screen space (total)

So if you want dual/tripple/quad screens or so like I've become acustomed to (had 5 crts at one point)... you'll want the powermac; if you dont mind a single screen just get the imac.

 

[DeSnousa]

I currently in the same position. But what to do alot of editing. Mainly in iMovie but maybe Final Cut pro soon. I would rather have value over performance as long as the performance is not substantial. I would be capering the iMac 20" with the dual 2ghz power mac.

 

[steve88]

I was in the same situation. Then the upgrades came out and I chose the imac 20. I got the 250 Gig HD and RAM boosted to 1Gig. With Apple Care and shipping, it costs $2200. If I went with the dual G5 and a display, (my present monitor is an ancient 17" CRT) the cost would have been well over 3K. I don't need mega power but I needed a display, so for me the imac version B was a no-brainer.

 

[iGary]

Most importat question:

Do you already have a monitor?

Second question (already asked):

Which dual G5 system are you looking at?

Cheers.

 

[DeSnousa]

Most importat question:

Do you already have a monitor?

Second question (already asked):

Which dual G5 system are you looking at?

Cheers.

1) No i don't, i would be looking at the dell 20"
2) The dual 2ghz

Look at 4th post as to what the computer will be used for.

 

[amac4me]

I currently in the same position. But what to do alot of editing. Mainly in iMovie but maybe Final Cut pro soon. I would rather have value over performance as long as the performance is not substantial. I would be capering the iMac 20" with the dual 2ghz power mac.

I'd recommend a Dual Power Mac. If you're gonna use Final Cut, you'll want the Power Mac. No need to get a 2.7, if you can affor the 2.3 I'd do that. I own a dual 2.5

 

[brandon6684]

1) No i don't, i would be looking at the dell 20"
2) The dual 2ghz

Look at 4th post as to what the computer will be used for.

Well if you're looking at a 20" monitor, you may come out equal to begin with, but the iMac would limit your upgrade options. You said you plan of doing a lot of work with Photo Mechanic and Photoshop, so at some point in the future you may either want a bigger screen or another screen, and if I'm not mistaken, the iMac and only do video mirroring, not extend the desktop across multiple displays.

Another thing to consider is the useful life span of the machine. People do a lot of things with dual 400 and 500 MHz PowerMacs that my 600MHz iMac wouldn't handle. The dual processors give it a bit more of a kick, and they are designed to be more high end. The iMac G5 has a system bus 1/3 of the processor speed and the PowerMacs 1/2. While this may not be a big deal today, it could come into play if some future versions of Mac OS and Photoshop become very taxing on your old machine. Also the video cards can be upgraded in the PowerMacs to get more life out and they can hold quite a bit more RAM, and it may not be too long until 2GB of RAM doesn't look like much.

For this immediate point in time, I'd say the iMac is a pretty good deal, but the PowerMac would likely well out last the iMac, possibly by a few years with good upgrades.

 

[DeSnousa]

Brandon Sharitt thanks for the reply. I still got some thinking to do.